2nd Edition

Radical Reporting Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance, and Information Security Reports

By Sara I. James Copyright 2025
256 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

256 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

256 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

"If I were giving out an award for 'book of the year' for internal audit professionals, I would certainly award it to her outstanding manuscript: Radical Reporting: Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance and Information Security Reports." - Richard Chambers, Former President and CEO, The Institute of Internal Auditors Most people dread writing reports; they also dread reading reports.... Read more

Acknowledgements

Author

Introduction


Part 1: Words in the mind

 

Chapter 1: Communication and culture

Chapter 2: Communication within and among teams

Chapter 3: Clarity – the theory

 

Part 2: Words on the page

 

Chapter 4: Clarity – the practice
Chapter 5: Planning 

Chapter 6: Structure and layout

 

Part 3: Words into action

 

Chapter 7: Findings or observations, and recommendations

Chapter 8: Executive summaries 

Chapter 9: Reviewing – making the gain outweigh the pain

 

Conclusion

Resources

Index

Biography

Sara I. James is an internationally recognized expert in internal audit communications. Through her business, Getting Words to Work®, she delivers tailored report-writing and other training to internal audit, risk, compliance, and information security teams worldwide (www.saraijames.com). With over 30 years’ academic, teaching, writing, publishing, and corporate experience in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East, she brings a wealth of varied yet specialized expertise to clients and audiences. As a member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (UK and Ireland) Technical Guidance Working Group, Sara has produced many governance, risk, and internal audit advisory pieces. She has also produced articles on clear writing for industry journals and spoken at numerous audit conferences and heads of internal audit forums. In 2022, she was named one of Richard Chambers' Internal Audit Beacon award-winners. Finally, Sara has been fortunate to live, study, and work in different countries, including the US, the UK, France, and the then-Soviet Union, and speaks five languages. These experiences and skills give her invaluable insight into cross-cultural communication and global organizations. She is also regularly asked to contribute scholarly essays, articles, and conference papers on language and literature.

"If I were giving out an award for ‘book of the year’ for internal audit professionals, I would certainly award it to her outstanding manuscript: Radical Reporting: Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance and Information Security Reports."

—Richard Chambers, Former President and CEO, The Institute of Internal Auditors